Finding Him

4l Valet

Daniel heard her storm off. He continued to listen to her footsteps race down the halls until it faded away.

Reaching forward, he found the coffee table before him with his hand, before deciding it was safe to place his glass down on top of it. He leaned back against his seat, his mind running through their brief meeting. And brief it had been. At first, he had considered her too silent and boring for his liking. Of course she was a servant, trained to be silent and submissive, he certainly did not expect anything else. He had meant to frustrate the interview until she would herself, reject the job. What he had not been expecting, was her outburst.

Smiling to himself, he rubbed his chin. She reminded him of a hearth. She was the flame in that hearth, confined to it, made to provide heat but very much capable of burning an individual who was foolish enough to go close. He thought it ironic that she had also appeared before him, smelling of smoke.

His smile broadened as he thought of his words to her; ugly. He had called her ugly and she had most likely been upset, oblivious of the fact that he lacked the ability to see and couldn't tell the difference between what was ugly and beautiful.

"It went well then?"

He jerked his head up, taken aback by the presence of his mother and worse, the fact that he hadn't heard her approaching.
"You look surprised." He heard her settle on a sofa. "You are never surprised, Daniel, never." Her voice was laced with humor.

He shrugged, reaching for his drink. A few seconds of beating the air, and he finally found it. Lifting it to his lips, he ignored his mother's teasing.

"She obviously got your attention?" It was a question.

"Perhaps." Sighing softly, he reached forward again but the glass was retrieved from his hand and he heard its bottom making contact with the wooden table.

"Then you would hire her?"

Shaking his head, "I do not need a nurse. My achievement of little tasks, such as carrying out an interview by myself, pouring myself a drink, and trying to place my drink on the table without my mother's help..." He rose a brow in challenge. "Proves I do not need a nurse. The very idea of one, Mother, the very idea of a nurse makes me feel sick, literally. I am not a sick man, I'm just a man whose sight was stolen by fate."

"You certainly need help, there is no shame in that. Even I have maids to help me. Your father, brother, we all have help."

"Branding me with a nurse makes me feel useless."

"Then a valet?"

He let out a frustrated sigh. "I do not need a man to feel worse, Mother."

"I was talking about the girl. She will be your valet, taking on that role, and only that role."

He considered his mother's words for a few seconds. Perhaps she was right, perhaps he could hire her as his valet and keep her on his father's pay roll without actually putting her to use. A valet he could control, but a nurse would seek to control him.

"Very well." He placed his hands on the arm of the chair, using them to aid his standing upright. "A valet." Making his way around the coffee table, he crossed the room and made his way out of the door, eyes and shoulders straight; the exact posture of a man whose world was not being ridiculed by darkness.

•~•~•

The soft pounding on the door awakened Hadassah. Pushing herself upright using her elbow, she settle on a sitting position on a bed and rubbed her forehead that was now pounding with a head.

Her eyes traveled the length of the unfamiliar room, confused. The knock sounded again, drawing her attention back to the door. Where was she?! Her mind screamed, fearing the evils that might lie behind the door. She glanced down at herself, dressed in her blue and white dress, grease staining it. The faint smell of smoke drifted to her nostrils and in that second, she remembered. His looting blue eyes, his proud gait, his cutting words...

The knock again. This time, she scrambled out of bed and made her way to the door, removing the latch.

"There you are." Berta. "I was worried."

She shook her head, stepping away from the door so Berta could enter. Closing the door behind her, she made her way to the bed and placed herself on the edge.

"I must return to Leah and Lord Hadley, considering the master will not hire me." She rubbed her throbbing head.

Berta stood hovering over her. "Perhaps not as a nurse. But you do not mind, do you?"

"Not as anything, Berta!" She choked back a sob. "After speaking of how utterly ugly I am, and how terrible I smell, he dismissed me. Then I went ahead to speak of his arrogance and lack of grace and in only a few minutes from now, I will most likely be thrown out of his estate."

Berta's eyelids widened. "He called you ugly?"

"And smelling of smoke." She nodded, the feeling of hopelessness settling in her belly. Bowing her head, she fought against her tears.

Berta's laughter filled the room in that moment, gaining Hadassah's attention. Confused, she watched Berta laugh for several minutes, her voice grating on her nerves. Perhaps she was a laughable and pitiable creature.

Her laughter dying down, Berta settled on the bed beside her and took her hand in hers. "Dasa, other than the obvious fact that your beauty would make any man's head turn and whoever thinks otherwise must be blind," She giggled, touching her chin. "Lord Daniel Talbot has agreed to hire you as his valet, not nurse. This is a simpler job of course, you will be required to do far less."

Hadassah felt her eyelids widen, her limbs weakening at Berta's announcement. She wondered who Daniel Talbot was, she wondered if the master she had accused of arrogance would punish her for her wicked words, she wondered if Daniel would be more tolerable than the rude, cruel interviewer she had encountered earlier.

Surely, he had nothing to do with her employment! Any man whose ego was so mercilessly bruised by a servant would never consider hiring her.

But it didn't matter, she was hired! She had a job and a chance at a future. She would serve her new master diligently and would hopefully find a husband with ample time to gain her inheritance.

Smiling broadly, she threw her arms around Berta and kissed her cheeks. For the first time since her parents died, she felt hope spring up in her heart.

Copyright © 2018 Lily Orevba All rights reserved.

A/N

Like I said, this story is a work in progress. As the plot progresses, the synopsis will change.

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